Is This Relative Adverb Clause Or Relative Pronoun Clause?

Question

There's somewhere I need little Lady Eris to go for me.

I was told

if a relative clause itself is a complete sentence, it is a relative pronoun clause.

if a relative clause itself is an incomplete sentence, it is a relative adverb clause.

To me, antecedent "somewhere" seems to be complement of go.

If so, I'm not sure whether or not the adjective clause is a complete sentence because of the verb "go".

Someone said "She went." is a complete sentence because "go" is an intransitive verb syntactically.

Someone said "She went." is an incomplete sentence because "go" needs an adverbial complement semantically i.e., go home/somewhere...

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

anonymousThere's somewhere I need little Lady Eris to go for me.

anonymous
I was told
if a relative clause itself is a complete sentence, it is a relative pronoun clause.
if a relative clause itself is an incomplete sentence, it is a relative adverb clause.

I can't honestly say that I know what that even means. In fact, it sounds backwards to me. I would not put much stock in those observations if I were you. There is probably a better way of saying them anyway.

anonymousTo me, antecedent "somewhere" seems to be complement of go.

Complement? I think it would be called an adjunct or an adverb of place.

anonymous
If so, I'm not sure whether or not the adjective clause is a complete sentence because of the verb "go".
Someone said "She went." is a complete sentence because "go" is an intransitive verb syntactically.

This relates back to those little guidelines you quoted earlier, and I'm not sure those are even correct.

I'd be inclined to say that if the antecedent is a noun (or pronoun), you're dealing with a relative pronoun. If it's an adverb, you're dealing with a relative adverb. I don't see how the completeness of the sentence or clause is relevant.

There's somewhere (that / where) I need little Lady Eris to go for me.

>

There is somewhere / There is a place +
I need little Lady Eris to go (there / to that place) for me.

"somewhere", "there", and "to that place" are all adverbials of place.

So you're working with a relative adverb clause here.

CJ

Is This Relative Adverb Clause Or Relative Pronoun Clause?

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